Best Buy + e-machines = Ripoff + Junk

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In case you were thinking of biting on those great offers from Best Buy on the e-machines computers because of the fantastic rebate offers....

1) I just got ripped off by Best Buy because they advertise a $200 "Best Buy" rebate on a computer and monitor and then later I found out it was two separate rebates... and they only allow one rebate per household and you are not eligible for both, so it's false advertising. Screwed out of that $100 by Best Buy liars.

2) e-machines has an arbitrary rule that if they don't receive the rebate material back from you within 30 days of sale, you don't get paid.... even though the rebate offer is still valid for another six months (it is in the microscopic print on the bottom of the rebate receipt). I kept copies of all the original material, how I am I supposed to prove when I mailed it? Screwed out of another $150 by e-machines.

3) Junk: e-machine hardware must be really crap. I only use the computer to do e-mail and make MP3 CD's for audio, and the CD drive started malfunctioning about a week after the 30 days "return with no questions asked" period expired. So now it requires service return or fix it myself. Love this cheap junk, never buying e-machines again. There's a reason their prices are low.

Well that's just super! - I just bought "Junk" a couple weeks ago from "Ripoff". It's been flawless so far, and we've got at least one rebate...$50 for the printer. Hope my experience is better than yours.

I've never been a big fan of Emachines myself. These (and many models by Dell, HP/Compaq, Sony etc.) seldom offer any upgradeability, no expansion slots, integrated or soldered on video and audio components. Basically be very cautious about computers sold from those big business retailers (Best Buy, CompUsa, Circuit City), as you can usually get nearly as good a deal on a much more customized machine online.

From what I have heard, the quality of the E-machine laptops have actually improved and are now a good low cost alternative for the budget minded. Im not sure how this has effected the desktop market. I think that the goal is still to provide the lower price possible, so Im guessing that not much has changed in the desktop quality.

Always be wary of store rebates. If they were really offering the discount they claim, they could just put it on sale and dispense with the whole rebate procedure. Manufacturer rebates are somewhat different, but they're mostly a PITA too. I think one of the reasons rebates are pushed so much these days is because you have to mutilate the packaging (to cut out the UPC and all) and thereby eliminate the possibility of returning it to the store.

I have the M6809 w/the AMD Athlon 64 but smaller hard drive. Check out this newer eMachines and see if you can muster the word junk. Newer eMachines laptops sellout quickly everywhere and get high marks from many sources.

spent 2 years as a Best Buy employee...eh, have hours of stories regarding customer's horrible experiences. on the other hand, i have days of stories that deal with complete idiots for customers. not emplying that you or anybody on here falls into either of those categories however, the employees at Best Buy are often high school/college kids that do not work on commision and do the best they can do with what they are given. their hands are tied on many issues and store management often can't do much more thanks to mid-level management's policies. if you're buying something small or inexpensive from Best Buy, shouldn't have a problem walking in and picking it up. if you're out to make a large and expensive purchase...you'd have to be a fool to not research products and brands before you walk into make a purchase based on a Best Buy, Circuit City (insert any store name here) employee. most of those employees have seen every brand come back for one reason or another and are being as genuine as they can be to you...but they don't know everything.

side note...building your own computer is not that hard to do and you can save a ton of money and bypass needless software that comes with a bundled package that causes headaches down the road. the most recent computer i built cost the guy ~600. to get the same hardware and performance figures off the self at Best Buy would have been close to 900.

Better alternative - NewEgg. Skip the middle man, avoid the mark-up and get only what you want. There are pleanty of guides online that can walk you into the relm of DIY computing. Gimmie some time and I'll find a link for you...

That's the official line, and that's originally the transaction that took place. My understanding is that these days the old Emachines management now runs the place, with most of the old Gateway guard run off, and so basically Emachines bought Gateway for negative $234,000,000. Not a bad deal.

Strangely enough, this will probably be a plus for Gateway. It's hard to imagine their hardware, service, and support getting any worse.

Better alternative - NewEgg. Skip the middle man, avoid the mark-up and get only what you want. There are pleanty of guides online that can walk you into the relm of DIY computing. Gimmie some time and I'll find a link for you...

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This is the best advice you'll get when it comes to desktop computers. I haven't used a factory-built computer since my old Tandy in the early 90s.

Building a computer from components is quite simple, and as mentioned you get the exact combination of what you want. The useful lifespan of these computers is longer as well, because the motherboards are designed with future upgrades in mind.

Originally posted by Me&MyG23 Looks like another case of "I got what I paid for."

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Not really. Since I was only using it a few hours a week to make CD's, I expected it to get through the first year without any significant problems.

The arbitrary policy by e-machines of voiding the rebate if you don't get the package back to them in 30 days or less is total BS. It's also probably illegal in most states, since they can't simply refuse to pay a rebte for no good reason when that rebate is still being advertised as an offer to consumers.

e-machines as a company must be really stupid. Screwing customers over using the microscopic fine print scam is going to get them a billion dollars worth of bad mouthing by the people they shafted.

Originally posted by Mwildt all you need is a motherboard, cpu, case (power supply generally comes with this), fan, memory and hard drive. depending on what specs you go with...one can have all this for around 300.

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But that doesn't include the system softweare which is at least another $100 or more if you actually buy it as opposed to rip it off from another machine. And for the record, the one I bought came with a 2.8 GHz/80G HD, 512M RAM, floppy drive, a RO CD-ROM, a RW CD-ROM, 17" color monitor, speakers and a Lexmark color printer that sold for $100 on it's own. The total price as advertised for all the pieces was $800, but they claimed the rebates totaled $400 oin the ad so they advertised the price as about $400. That's a good deal, but the problem is, that was a lie because you can't apply for both Best Buy rebates because they only pay one per household (there goes $100) and e-machines pulled the quick expiration scam which took out another $200.

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